A Lecture by David L. Eng
September 28, Wednesday 6:30 to 8 pm
This presentation explores the relationship between political and psychic genealogies of reparation. Reparation is a key term in political theory, but it is also a central concept in psychoanalysis (specifically object relations theory), yet the two are rarely discussed in relation to one another. In this talk, I will explore how political and psychic genealogies of reparation might supplement one another in theories of the human and discourses of human rights, while helping us to understand better the social and psychic limits of repairing war, violence, colonialism, and genocide.
Saher Shah, whose art is on the cover of Social Text #108, is having a solo exhibition at Scaramouche gallery in New York between now and October 30, 2011. From the gallery:
Featuring a collection of drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptural
works, “Object Anxiety” continues the artist’s exploration of
architectural modernism, specifically, new Brutalism’s engineered social
spaces and urban environments.
The financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent “Great Recession” have often been seen as crises of debt and credit. Political economists have attempted to unravel the financial instruments — the subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations — at the … Continue reading “Introduction”
How does debt act as a tool of labor discipline? As a catalyst of capitalist accumulation? As a method of labor degradation? I want to approach these questions by imagining a series of three lives, working lives, working lives … Continue reading “Working Lives in Debt”
Every winter millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to forests in central Mexico. The sight of their arrival stops people and traffic not only by virtue of its uniqueness, but also due to the … Continue reading “Environment in Debt”
“Without memory, there is no debt. Put another way: without story, there is no debt.” That’s how Margaret Atwood put it in her book, Payback (2008), in which she foregos the structures of finance in order to explore … Continue reading “A Debt Remembered”
In the nineteen-teens, Concepcion García, a Mexican national, lived in Texas to attend school. In April 1919 she became ill, and attempted to return home. That same month Lt. Gulley of the U.S. Cavalry patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border. While crossing … Continue reading “Indemnity for State Murder”
The establishment of Chinese sociology was transnational from the very beginning. During the early decades of the twentieth century, Europe and Japan were two major sources of Chinese sociological knowledge, but starting from the 1920s, Chinese sociology developed a … Continue reading “Negotiating Intellectual Debt”
The German philosopher Ernst Bloch in his massive tome The Spirit of Utopia, devoted an entire section to what he called ” Little Daydreams”. Overflowing each page are mystical and impressionistic descriptions of phenomena like wishful thinking, social utopias, … Continue reading “Dreamworlds of Debt”
Two thirds of American College graduates graduate in debt. Traditionally, student debt, like a home mortgage, was thought of as “good” debt, a wise investment in the future. The current financial crisis has disrupted that common sense, and … Continue reading “The Banking Model of Education”
Why are we in debt? And, why do we believe we are in debt? It is not a question of whether we are in debt: we are. In recent years, from Turkey to the United Kingdom, credit card debt … Continue reading “The Fetishism of Debt”
It’s important to begin with a reminder of the reasons everybody is talking about debt these days. The threat of “debt crisis” hangs over the world economy. The United States “has been living beyond its means,” Greece “cannot pay its … Continue reading “Debt Dossier”
I feel I am at a bit of a disadvantage since Richard Dienst has said much of what I would wish to say, and much of it, at least slightly better. I agree strongly with his assessment. What these … Continue reading “Comments on the Debt Dossier”
Introduction by Ashley Dawson:In 1970, an adviser to California Governor Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign commented on the state of public education: “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we … Continue reading “Andrew Ross speaks to Occupy Wall Street on Student Debt”
Michael Truscello’s new documentary, Capitalism Is The Crisis: Radical Politics in the Age of Austerity, which is excerpted above, can be viewed in its entirety here. It features commentary by Chris Hedges, Michael Hardt, and many more.
